Disclaimer: All the opinions expressed in this article are
the opinions of Dr. Seshadri Kumar alone and should not be construed to mean
the opinions of any other person or organization, unless explicitly stated
otherwise in the article.

*********************************

Introduction

The Hon. Mr. Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Gujarat, made a
speech to the students of Shriram College of Commerce in Delhi on February 6th,
2013.

Since the speech was made in
Hindi, and not everyone in India speaks Hindi, even though it is nominally the
national language of India, I am providing here a translation of this speech
for the benefit of non-Hindi speakers who can understand English, as well as
for the international audience.

It is my
personal belief that this speech is important enough that people read it in its
entirety and not confine their understanding of it to a few sound bites that
are reproduced in the newspapers and periodicals. To reduce a speech of this calibre to a few
sound bites is to do a huge disservice to it.
Before that, though, I give a brief background of Mr. Modi and the
context in which this speech was made.

I consider this speech one of the best - certainly the best
in recent memory - I have ever heard by an Indian politician. It shows a master speaker in absolute command
– of his environment, of the facts at his disposal, with a gift for oratory, a
flair for the dramatic, a sense of humor and self-deprecation, albeit glowing
with self-confidence – all resting on a bedrock of great achievement.

Mr. Modi has been a controversial politician. On the one hand there are the infamous
post-Godhra riots that happened in 2002, in which Mr. Modi was implicated for (at
least) not doing enough to stop the anti-Muslim violence. On the other hand, there is his impressive
record as chief minister of Gujarat, where the state has made huge advances in
public services and set a model for the entire nation to emulate in good governance.

Recently, Mr. Modi won a fourth term as chief minister of
Gujarat with a resounding majority – an affirmation of the good works that he
has done for his state and the goodwill that he has gained among the voters of
his state. This success in the polls,
coupled with his impressive transformation of the economy of Gujarat, has led
to a widespread clamour in the country that this is the man India needs, to
transform its moribund economy, which appears to be plummeting to annual growth
levels at 5%, the lowest in a decade.

For a nation frustrated by the poor governance of the ruling
UPA party, which is beset not only by poor achievement on all major indicators
but also by widespread allegations of corruption, Mr. Modi appears as a messiah
who can help the nation achieve its promise based on its biggest asset – its
demographic dividend. The promise is
underlined by a spectacular record of achievement in Mr. Modi’s home state of
Gujarat.

In sharp contrast to what is seen as widespread looting by
various officials of the ruling government, Mr. Modi has a reputation for being
personally incorruptible. This, coupled
with his efficiency as an administrator, and his ability to bring in prosperity
for his state, have prompted many to ask the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the
party to which Mr. Modi belongs, to declare that were they to win the 2014
parliamentary elections, Mr. Modi would be their candidate for Prime
Minister. In effect, a vote for the BJP
in 2014 would be a vote for Mr. Modi.

This speech as SRCC in New Delhi is widely seen as Mr. Modi,
fresh off his latest electoral success in Gujarat, staking his claim to be the
frontrunner for the post of the Prime Ministership should the BJP come to
power. In effect, it is at this event
that he has thrown his hat in the ring.
It is, therefore, essentially a self-nomination, and so the ideas
contained in it are very significant for anyone wishing to evaluate Mr. Modi’s
credentials and his ideas.

Godhra

But before we start, some mention must be made of the one
single impediment to Mr. Modi’s widespread acceptance among the Indian
public. This is the event that happened
in Gujarat in 2002, when Mr. Modi was in his first term as chief minister.

On 27 February, 2002, 58 Hindu pilgrims were travelling on
the Sabarmati express back to Gujarat from Ayodhya were burnt by a group of
Muslims at Godhra railway junction. In
response, right-wing Hindus orchestrated a widespread massacre of Muslims in
the state of Gujarat. Official estimates
of the death toll were 1044 (including 254 Hindus); unofficially, the figure is as high as 2000 (consisting "mostly of Muslims" - see here for details.)

Mr. Modi, who was the chief minister at the time, is accused
of, at the very least, not doing enough to stop the violence. He has been accused of giving explicit
instructions to the police not to stop the violence. However, as of today, he still has not been
convicted in any crime.

Regardless of that, the charges against him are extremely
serious, and this remains for him a major obstacle in obtaining universal
acceptance among Indians. He has made
conciliatory statements in public, almost amounting to an apology - but not
quite. Many people still suspect him of
harbouring anti-Muslim tendencies and wonder how such a person will be
appropriate for a pluralistic India.

However, when considering Mr. Modi’s case, it is instructive
to look at him not in isolation but as one among many politicians in
India. In India it is almost impossible
to find politicians who are really clean; who are not facing some serious
charges that should, in other countries, disqualify them. But Indian politicians seem to have a layer
of Teflon around them, because nothing sticks to them. One is forced, therefore, to look past these
serious charges and ask how a person can, on balance, serve this country best.

The
1984 Anti-Sikh Riots

Nothing perhaps illustrates this better than the infamous
1984 anti-Sikh riots in New Delhi. On
October 31, 1984, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, the then-prime minister of India, was
gunned down in cold blood by two of her own bodyguards, who belonged to the
Sikh religion.

In response to this brutal act, a wave of violence, widely
believed to have been orchestrated by key functionaries of the ruling Congress
party as revenge for the killing of their party chief, swept New Delhi. Sikhs all over the city were mercilessly
butchered and burned alive. The violence
was not spontaneous or carried out by common people in anger against the Sikh
community. Instead, thugs were brought
into Delhi from neighbouring Haryana and Uttar Pradesh and given the promise of loot and rape and
asked to commit these crimes against the Sikhs.
(for details, see the excellent book, “History of the Sikhs – Part II”
written by the eminent writer Khushwant Singh.) Many notable faces, people who
were then ministers or later ministers in the Congress governments of then and
even now, have been identified by eyewitnesses as having led mobs to specific
homes with lists of people of the Sikh religion who were to be killed.

Yet not one person of significance in the Congress
government has been indicted. The accused
include such men of prominence as HKL Bhagat, Jagdish Tytler, Sajjan Kumar,
Lalit Maken, and Kamal Nath. The
last-named gentleman is, even today, a Union minister for urban development in
the current UPA government headed by the Congress party, in spite of extremely
serious charges against him. The chief
investigating agency of the government, the Central Bureau of Investigation
(CBI) gave a clean chit to Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar in 2009, saying
there was no evidence against them. This
is in spite of the report of the Nanavati Commission, the commission headed by
former Supreme Court of India Justice GT Nanavati, who investigated the 1984
riots, having indicted Tytler, Kumar, Bhagat, Nath, and many others.

When the violence finally died down, three days later, more
than 3000 Sikhs had been brutally killed according to the official estimate
(unofficial estimates are as high as 10,000).
According to eyewitnesses, in most places, the police just stood and
watched, and some even helped the killers find their victims.

To add insult to injury, when the son of Mrs.
Indira Gandhi and the next prime minister, Mr. Rajiv Gandhi, was asked about
the riots, he replied calmly, “When a great tree falls, the earth must
shake.” The callousness of a statement
like this, and the reluctance to punish anyone responsible for the violence,
has led to widespread speculation that Mr. Gandhi was himself complicit in the
violence; that the reluctance of the Delhi Government, which was under the
control of the Congress party, to stop any of the violence, implied that this
was an act of state terrorism.

Yet Mr. Gandhi was voted to power in the elections that
followed. The Congress party today is
headed by his widow, Sonia Gandhi, and the vice-president of that party is Mr.
Rajiv Gandhi’s son, Mr. Rahul Gandhi. This
party has ruled India for the last 9 years as well. Many party workers who were in command in
1984 and responsible for various acts of inhumanity remain unpunished and even
in prominent positions (like Mr. Kamal Nath).

The
Choice for the Indian Voter

Today, the Indian voter has essentially a choice between the
two national parties – the Congress party and the BJP. The media is portraying the 2014 elections as
a fight between Mr. Modi and Mr. Rahul Gandhi.
If one were to disqualify a party or its individuals on the basis of
involvement in mass murder (even murder targeted against a specific community),
then both parties appear to be guilty. It
would follow that the Congress Party’s assumption of power for so many years
since 1984 was illegitimate.

It should also be clear from the history of the last 10 years in Gujarat that there has been no repeat of the violence (not that such events should ever be repeated) - so one can dismiss comparisons of Modi with genocidal politicians like Hitler, etc., as just the extremist nonsense it is. The post-Godhra riots were a dark chapter in Gujarat's history, but they certainly were not a Kristallnacht (the violence against the Jews in Nazi Germany in 1938 that was the forebearer to the death camps of 1942) as some like to portray it. One could, similarly, argue that the Congress does not harbour ill-will for the Sikhs in general - that it was a specific incident for which Congress politicians competed with each other to show their loyalty to the late Mrs. Gandhi by killing as many Sikhs as they could that was responsible for the carnage in 1984.

Who, then, should the Indian voter cast his ballot for? It is very hard to argue that 10,000 Sikh
lives are less valuable than 2000 Muslim lives unless one thinks purely cynically
in terms of vote banks. (Muslims greatly outnumber Sikhs as a percentage of the
population.)

The decision on who is to govern India must, therefore, be
made on other grounds.

Currently, India is fast losing steam as an economic
power. Growth has slipped to an annual
rate of 5%. The common people are
deluged by regular exposes of corruption in high-profile Government contracts
such as the 2G telecom scam, the Coal scam, the Commonwealth Games scam, defense
scams such as the Bofors scam and very recently the Augusta Westland helicopter
scam, and many more that keep coming out like skeletons from the UPA closet. There is no faith among the people either in
the financial integrity of the government or its officers or in the ability of
the government to generate prosperity for its citizens.

Manmohan Singh, the current prime minister, who was widely
seen as the economist who propelled the reforms introduced by PV Narasimha Rao
when he was prime minister, was widely expected to expand economic reforms in
India. In the UPA’s first term, his
ability to do so was greatly circumscribed by his dependence on the Left
parties, but when the UPA won a second term in office with a resounding mandate,
most people cheered, thinking that this would free up Manmohan Singh to
accelerate economic reforms in the country.

Instead, Mr. Singh has gone completely the other way, using
economic sops and subsidies to try and garner vote banks instead of freeing up
the economy and letting the energy of the people work. The country has seen a complete policy paralysis
and the general perception is that the present government does not care about
making any policy – its only agenda appears to be survival – a survival that
allows its ministers to use their position to illegally accumulate wealth
through kickbacks.

In this context, the promise of Mr. Modi as a potential
prime minister is his clarity of vision, his firmness of purpose, his
perseverance, and his ability to get things done. Of late, he has been endorsed as the future
leader of India by as diverse groups of people as a congregation of sadhus at
the Maha Kumbh religious festival and a conference of the highest-powered names
in Indian business. Most Indian
middle-class people have a similar opinion.

What is the reason for this?
What do they see in Mr. Modi? To
understand that, nothing is a better introduction to Mr. Modi and his ideas
than this speech, which I am reproducing here in English translation. The translation is a liberal one; I have
tried to keep the spirit of Mr. Modi’s words intact while making every effort
to remain true to the letter. I have
punctuated the speech with headings (mine) in order to make the reading easier,
since this is a transcript of a long, one-hour speech. And occasionally, I have clarified what Mr.
Modi has said with an editiorial comment in parantheses. Where I heard applause or laughter from the
audience in the video recording, I have faithfully reported those as well.

Now, on to the speech.

Translation
of Narendra Modi’s Speech at SRCC

***BEGINNING of SPEECH***

1.Gujaratis
as Leaders

Seated on the dais, Mr. Ajay, Mr. Jain, and all young
friends:

I am coming from the land of Gujarat. I am coming from the land of Mahatma
Gandhi. And I am coming from the land of
Sardar Patel.

If you look at the Independence struggle, at that time there
were two main streams that created this struggle. One, under Mahatma Gandhi’s leadership, was the
attempt to obtain freedom by nonviolent means; and the other was the violent struggle
for freedom through revolutionary means.

Friends, the leadership of both these streams rested with a
Gujarati. Shyamji Krishna Varma was
regarded as the teacher of revolution, who established the India House in
London; who started the work of teaching revolution to so many people; and
Mahatma Gandhi was also from Gujarat, who gave India independence.

2.Good
Governance

Friends, many great people have sacrificed, spent their youth in prison, done penance, given up their
lives, so that our land may get freedom.
And because of their tireless efforts, this dream became reality. But since swaraj (ed: lit., self governance), it has been more than six
decades, but the nation is still waiting for su-raaj (ed: good governance). They wonder when they will get it.

So, my friends, if we are to stake out our place on that
path of progress that the world is travelling on, our first goal should be to
see how we can strengthen su-raaj. And
when I say strengthen su-raaj - if I were to say how that is to be done in the
language you are familiar with, then the right words are: good governance.

Now at the root of all problems is one sickness.

Friends, today the whole world is talking about Gujarat’s
progress. Now if you were to examine
this journey of Gujarat in some depth, then you will realize we have focused on
good governance. But we are one step
ahead. When I talk about good governance
and I talk about my model, then I talk about P2-G2. Pro-People, Good Governance.

Normally, our administration in this country plays the role
of a firefighter. Problems arise, and
then the administration follows them, tries to solve them. Friends, the role of the administration is to
visualize situations, anticipate problems, resolve to change the situation, and
through them create new facilities and opportunities. But we have been seeing for the last six
decades that we have failed in such duties.
And the result of all this is that today, in the entire country, there
is an environment of hopelessness. The
country is drowning in hopelessness.
Everyone feels, “what is the point of doing anything? Everyone is a thief. Everything is worthless. I don’t know what God’s plan was that he had
me be born in this land. No, I am
thinking of finishing my studies and leaving this land – have to think of my
career.”

Optimism

This sound is being heard far and wide. But I have a different thinking on this. I have been governing Gujarat for a while now
– this is my fourth term. And I can tell
you with that experience: that with these very laws, this very constitution,
these very rules and regulations, these very employees, these same files, these
offices, these very people - in spite of all these - we can forge ahead. We can do a lot. And I can say this on the basis of my
experience with Gujarat.

Friends, all of you who are sitting here will have a
different take on the same thing. Now
you see this (ed: lifts the glass that is half filled with water). Those of you
who are optimists will say, “This glass is half full.” Those of you who are
pessimists will say, “this glass is half empty.” Friends, I am a person who doesn’t follow
either of these thoughts. I have a third
view. I say, “this glass is completely
full; half with water, and half with air.” (applause).

Natural
Resources and the Demographic Dividend

Friends, I am so very full of hope that we can change the
situation in this country.

An ambassador from a foreign country came to see me. After a while, the conversation drifted to
politics. He asked me, “What do you
think are the two main challenges for India?”
I told him clearly that the most important challenge for us is how we
can use opportunities. He asked me what
I meant. I told him that our nation is
the youngest nation in the world. 65% of
the population is below age 35. All of
Europe has gotten old. China has gotten
old. This is the world’s youngest
nation. 65% of the population is below
35. And it is our great misfortune that
this huge opportunity, this huge demographic dividend is not being used
properly.

“What about the other challenge?” he asked me. I told him that my country is not poor. We have so many natural resources. Look at the whole of eastern India. It is full of natural resources. But we are not using those properly and
moving towards prosperity. And so we are
constantly losing opportunities. How to
capture opportunities, channelize them, develop them, and transform them into
wealth and development is a great challenge that we must meet.

3.Agriculture

Friends, these days there is much talk of Gujarat. But Gujarat has always kept one thing in mind
in its journey of development. We don’t
try to put up our tent using a single pillar.
As a result, our entire model has been developed on three pillars. One-third agriculture, one-third industry,
and one-third service sector. And our
endeavour has been that the progress of these three sectors is uniform; and if
ever one of these sectors lags behind the other two because of any difficulty,
then the other two should support it.
And because of this, the state’s economy is never weak.

10%
Agricultural Growth in a Desert

So, my friends, I can proudly tell you today, our nation’s
agricultural growth – you people are students of this place – you are followers
of the Google guru – so you have all the information on your fingertips – for
20 years running now, this nation has set a growth target of 4% in agriculture,
but eventually sputtered to a growth rate of 2 to 2.5%. Gujarat has never been an agricultural
state. Gujarat is essentially a
desert. And our sad state is such that
here we have “Registan” (desert), and there we have Pakistan. (laughter).

We are so dependent on the rain. In spite of that, my friends, the state that
used to experience water scarcity in 7 out of 10 years, that state has created
a new history by achieving 10% agricultural growth in the past decade annually.

Annual
Farm Fair

And this has not happened by chance. We have had to work very hard for this. You must have seen in the media that Modi’s
Vibrant Gujarat summit was held, that it is very large, one was just held
recently, and people from 121 countries attended it. But my Vibrant Gujarat summit happens for
only 2 days. And it happens once in 2
years. But every year, in May-June, when
the temperature is 44 degrees, I conduct a Krishi Mahotsav (farm fair) for one
month. Along with me, 100,000 officials
from my government go to the farmers, to the villages. And they talk about how to conduct
lab-to-land technology transfer, how to get new innovations to the land – they
work hard to do that.

Friends, in this country, a human doesn’t have a health
card; but Gujarat is such a state that a farmer has a “soil health card.” And because of that, he knows what strengths
his land has, what its deficiencies are, what fertilizers it needs, what crop
will grow well on it, which season to grow in – he knows all these very well.

We have conducted a great campaign for water
conservation. We have constructed more
than 600,000 small structures (ed: check dams) to contain water - and now, Gujarat is the only
exception in the country. In the entire
country, the water table is going down. We
are the only exceptional state where the water table going up. (applause)

Impact
on Cotton Production

The result of all this is – friends, I remember when I first
became chief minister of Gujarat, in 2001-2002.
We are a cotton-growing state. At
that time, our total cotton production was 23,00,000 bales of cotton. Currently, our cotton production is
1,23,00,000 bales of cotton. (applause)

But we if remain there, then, friends, the situation will
arise that our farmer will not get what he should. He will get desperate. So the next step is how to add value. So we have done something for value
addition. So we have brought out a new
textile policy. And the import of my
textile policy is that I don’t want my cotton grower to run around to sell his
cotton. So I have a 5-F formula: Farm to
fiber, fiber to fabric, fabric to fashion, and fashion to foreign.

Where the cotton is grown is where the yarn will be made,
where the yarn is made is where the cloth will be made, where the cloth is made
is where the readymade garments will be made, and from there I will directly
export it around the world, and my farmer’s income will grow. And this is why, my friends, we should have
an integrated approach. And this is the
industrial revolution path I am taking, the one that will make my farmer
strong. We are going on that path. And one-third of my state’s economy is
focused on agriculture.

Coupled with agriculture is animal husbandry. I daresay there isn’t one among you who uses
milk in his tea who isn’t consuming the milk of Gujarat. The milk you people of Delhi drink comes from
Gujarat. Friends, if you go to Europe
and eat okra, rest assured, that okra (ed: "bhindi," aka ladies finger) has come from Gujarat. If you go to Singapore and ask for milk, mark
my words, it has come from Gujarat. Go
to Afghanistan and eat tomatoes – you can write it down here, those tomatoes
came from Gujarat.

Transformation
in Agriculture

Friends, I will give you a small example of how
transformation is achieved in agriculture.
Now at the limit of Maharashtra state – by the way, am I crossing any
time limit here? Can I depend on you to
tell me? You see, I have never been a
teacher, so I don’t have a 45 minute... (laughter) ... because there is a chip in a teacher’s
computer, you see (ed: pointing to his head) – it has a 45 minute programming limit. (laughter).

Friends, there is a tribal belt near the Maharashtra border. Long ago, when I was not in politics, I used
to frequent that tribal belt a lot. The
farmers of that tribal belt later once visited me. They said, “Sir please do something for our
roads.” I said to them, “why, your roads
are decent tar roads, what’s the problem?”
They said, “Sir, yes there are good roads, but we still need some
improvement.” I said, “what great
improvement do you need in that jungle?”
They said, “Sir, we have signed an agreement with Finland; we are banana
farmers, and we are exporting bananas to Finland. With the current roads, when our bananas are
transported in trucks, we lose 20% of the bananas because of crushing because
the current roads are uneven in parts and the ride is jerky. So we want a paver road.”

Friends, even everywhere in Delhi you won’t have paver roads!! Just reflect for a moment on the range of the
thinking of the citizens of our country – think of how far ahead a simple
tribal can think – he says that I want to sell my bananas in the world’s
markets, and I don’t want any damage to my bananas, so I want a paver
road!! Friends, if my country’s citizens
have this level of aspiration, then I can see clearly, the future of my country
is bright!

Animal
Husbandry, Cattle Camps, and Milk Production

Friends, let us turn to animal husbandry. I was talking about good governance and you
all wanted to hear about the Gujarat model, so I am telling you this. We conduct a regular medical camp for
cattle. Every year we conduct 2500 to
3000 cattle camps. We do check-ups, operations on them – very detailed
work. And what is the result of this
regular medical camp over the last 6 years?
Normally, the cattle used to get some disease when the heat increased, or
when they ate something, or if there was too much rain.

Today, after 6 years of constant effort, the result is that
120 cattle diseases have been totally eradicated. And the result of this is that the total milk
production has increased by 80% in this time period. (applause)

And when milk production increases, then the poor village
farmer who keeps one cow - think of how much his income increases. And when the village income rises, then their
purchasing power goes up. And when the
village purchasing power goes up, only then does the state economy
improve. And so it has been our focus to
see how to increase the farmer’s purchasing power. Now the purchasing power only goes up only if
our economic development, our growth chart, is sustained. If it goes up and down, then it won’t help. You need consistency in the growth, which is
what we have been monitoring and doing for 10 years.

4.Service
Sector: Hospitality and Tourism

Friends, let us talk about the service sector. We were not very well-known in the service
sector. One of the biggest sectors in
the service sectors is the hospitality sector; another is tourism. Gujaratis are the best tourists. Go to any part of the world and you will find
him – even in a five-star hotel, he will open his lunch box and eat his thepla.
(laughter).

But Gujarat was never a tourist destination. Friends, for the last 5 years we have been
making constant efforts. And today, for
the last three years, the Gujarat tourism rate has been double that of the
national tourism rate. And now, even
Amitabh Bachchan himself comes into your drawing rooms every day and tells you,
“spend some time in Gujarat.” And I am
sure you will come there some day – and maybe you will even like to settle down
there.

So my friends, even in the service sector, we have made a
lot of efforts and it has produced results.

5.Education

Friends, let us turn to education. During 2001-2, we had 11 universities in our
state. Today we have 42
universities. And when I talk about
universities, we are the first in the world to have a university on forensic
science. Today, in the whole world,
crime has changed. A kid sitting in
Holland can swindle you of your entire bank balance through hacking. Cyber crime is increasing. Economic offenses are increasing. If we want to stop these crimes, then
forensic science is the only way. And
nowhere else in the world is there a forensic science university – we are the
first in the world. And today, Israel,
who is well-known in the world for security – Israel, Australia, Canada – all
the nations of the world have partnered with our forensic science university
and are partners in its development. And
we have developed a global reputation.

Raksha
Shakti University

Friends, Gujarat is the first state in this country to have
set up a Raksha Shakti University (ed: Police Science and Internal Security). Friends, you in Delhi are all very angry and
concerned these days in Delhi about the law and order situation. Everyone is concerned about it – and I have
not come here to criticize - but can we search for solutions?

What is the situation today?
How is the recruitment done today for police? Based on body size. If someone is 6 feet tall, he is
enlisted. They make him run for 6-8
months, then he is given a uniform and a gun.

Friends, this needs to change. We have created a Raksha Shakti
University. Anyone who wants to pursue a
security-related career- in police, army, wherever - can join it after 10th standard,
and he joins for a 3-year or 5-year course.
And there he is taught all the subjects for a proper education. He is taught mob psychology, law, the constitution,
and other subjects – and then he will be enlisted in the police force. And so you have quality manpower in the
force.

Today, our Gujarat police force is the youngest police force
in India. We have enrolled 20-25 year
olds in such a major way. And we require
that they also be techno-savvy. So now
even constable-level policemen are very techno-savvy. So you can see how we bring about
transformation.

Indian
Institute of Teachers Education

Friends, we are the first to start a university like the
IITE – the Indian Institute of Teachers Education. Friends, today we have IIMs in this
country. IIM produces CEOs – and these
CEOs go on to run companies around the world after campus interviews. But ask any family today to tell you one wish
of theirs and one only, he will tell you that he wants good education for his
child. No matter how rich someone is,
what they want most is good education for their child, to have their child
taught by good teachers. Every father
and mother wants good teachers for their kids.

Friends, why don’t we train teachers scientifically, set up
a system to produce good teachers?

So now, we are the first in India to start a training
university for teachers, the Indian Institute of Teachers Education – after 12th
standard, those who want to become teachers, their entire training will happen
there for 5 years, and he will come out as a teacher.

Friends, I have a dream.
The whole world needs millions and millions of teachers. We have an army of young people. We export everything – why not export
teachers? (applause)

And friends, I tell you this clearly. If a businessman goes somewhere in the world
to sell something, he gains dollars or pounds.
But if a teacher goes somewhere, he gains an entire generation! This is power. (applause)

6.Industrial
Development

Friends, India needs to think like this!! We need to see things with this vision. We don’t need to sit in a corner and trap
ourselves there.

In the same way, there is another thing to discuss, my
friends, and that is industrial development.
The reason we are falling behind in this sector is that we are not paying
attention to technology upgradation.

There was a time when Ahmedabad in Gujarat was the
Manchester of India. There were cloth
mills everywhere – you could see their chimneys everywhere. That entire business was destroyed 30-40
years ago. Why? Didn’t people need clothes? No, the market for clothes was very big. It got destroyed because the change that was
needed to remain competitive in this world by doing technology upgradation was
not done. Friends, if India has to
secure her place in this changing world, then technology upgradation is a must.

Today, the eyes of the entire world are on India. Why?
Because they think that India is a large bazaar. The whole world thinks they can dump all
their things in our markets. They think
they can sell easily in India. It is
time that we decide that we will lead the world in manufacturing and make the
world our bazaar and dump our goods in their markets. (applause).

Branding

And for this, branding is essential. You may not know this because most of you are
too young, but if you were as old as Ajay is or I am, you could relate to what I
am about to say. When we were young, if
you saw anything “Made in Japan” in the market, you bought it. Even if it was as simple as a pen or anything
else, no one asked which company made it, where it was made, or anything else,
as long as it was “Made in Japan.”
Friends, why don’t we make “Made in India” famous around the world?

But to achieve this branding, it’s not just one thing or two
– there are many places to do it. Now,
recently, I had gone to Japan at the invitation of the Japanese government, a
bit before the elections, during August-September 2012. I was amazed: look at the crockery in the
hotel, and there is a slogan; if you get a biscuit, there is a slogan stamped
on it; buy a travel ticket, there is a slogan on it. There is no place there where this slogan is
not there. And what is that slogan? 8 years later, Japan will host the
Olympics. Eight years later, the
Olympics will happen, and in preparing for that an environment is being created
by posting slogans like “we are ready for the Olympics,” “we are waiting for
the Olympics,” “be ready for the Olympics.”
What an environment they have created!
Meaning, when the Olympics come, they will come, of course, but using
that fact what tremendous national sprit is being created! And instead, what did we do?

South
Korea and the Olympics

Friends, how does the world treat these events?! I request all of you, whenever possible, to
study the full history of South Korea. A
nation that obtained independence after us, one that was once among the lowest
even among developing nations, hosted the Olympics. And when South Korea hosted the Olympics, the
whole world was amazed, and that was the turning point when the whole world
acknowledged South Korea as a nation whose time had come – and then it was easy
for them to gain entry everywhere.

Vibrant
Gujarat

Friends, we hosted the Commonwealth games. Why we did so, the organizers themselves did
not know. (laughter and applause.)
Friends, a nation of 1 billion, with one event, can create such a branding
of the nation! And, when you think
globally, you have do such branding! And
in this context, I would like to tell you about the Vibrant Gujarat Global
investors summit. When I came in, I was
talking with Mr. Jain and asking him what all of you would want to listen to - and
now I am going to talk about what he told me.
He said to me to talk about my global relevance.

Friends, you will be happy to know this. I was busy until the end of December with the
elections. I was sworn in during the
last week of December. I had 10 days to
prepare for the event on January 11. And
I am proud of my team and how this efficiency had been institutionalized in them
– 121 countries were there – and the who’s who of Indian industry was there. Put it another way, 50% of the GDP of the
country was under one roof. (applause)

When the world sees this sight, they get faith. They have faith in the mettle of this
place. They think, “we can partner with
these people.” And once we get that
buy-in, it is unstoppable. And friends,
today Gujarat is benefiting from this, and Gujarat is that place of India that
is serving India. This benefit is not
going into Gujarat’s pocket, it is going into the nation’s pocket. If we produce salt, then there is probably
none among you who hasn’t eaten Gujarat’s salt.
And anyway, that is our mantra: Gujarat’s development for India’s
development.

Packaging

Friends, there is another area which we have emphasized in
Gujarat. This is in the manufacturing
sector. We have emphasized two
things. One is, whatever we manufacture,
we must have “zero defects” in manufacturing.
This is the first point of emphasis. The second is packaging. Friends, often very good things get ruined
because of bad packaging. Sometimes, by
the time the package is delivered, the item is broken.

Friends, you might be surprised to know that during Pandit
Nehru’s time, there was a commission known as the “Hathi commission,” named
after Jaisukhlal Hathi. The job that was
given to them was to determine how to popularize Ayurveda – our wonderful
natural medicinal system. Their
recommendations are very interesting.
Today, in herbal medicine, China exports the most. Today, in spite of this legacy that our
forefathers have bequeathed to us, we are nowhere in the world of international
herbal medicine.

But the recommendations of the Hathi commission are very
interesting. They said that Ayurveda will
not become popular until we don’t make the packaging attractive. In the old days people used to carry powders
with them in small, unattractive packets.
But now, after the packaging has become attractive, Ayurveda has started
becoming popular even in India.

Friends, we must understand the psyche of a consumer, of a
buyer, the world over, and develop our manufacturing sector. And once we develop that, the whole world
will be attracted to us.

Swami Vivekananda
and the Power of India’s Youth

Friends, this year is the 150th anniversary of
Swami Vivekananda’s birth year. The
whole country is celebrating this year.
Gujarat is also doing so. We have
announced this as the “year of youth.”

Friends, we have to decide how we look at the youth of this country. Friends, I am concerned that many people in our
current political system view these youth as simply “new age voters.” If this is how things remain, then I doubt
that we can change the state of our country.
Friends, I too am from the same political akhada (ed: wrestling
school.) But my thinking is different
from the rest of them. I wish that my
country views these youth not only as “new age voters,” but accepts them as
“new age powers.” (applause)

If you think of them as “new age powers,” then the way you
will think of them will be different, the way you will use their strengths will
be different. Friends, Swami Vivekananda
saw a dream – he said that “I see clearly that my Bharat mata will one day
assume the role of the world teacher.
And then my Bharat mata will, in full measure, led the world.” Friends, I have great belief in and respect
for these words of Swami Vivekananda.
Friends, these words were uttered 125 years ago, when he was 25 years
old.

Does it not behove us, on this 150th
birthday of Swami Vivekananda, to take an oath to make his words come true? Is it not our responsibility to make true the
words of this great man who has made India famous the world over, just by
taking a little effort on our part?

Friends, today we must, on this 150th birthday of
Swami Vivekananda, on the basis of the strength of our youth, promise to create
a prosperous, great India, and forge ahead.
But to forge ahead, we must focus on certain things.

A Land
of Mouse-Charmers

The whole world says that the 21st century is
India’s century. Some say the 21st
century is Asia’s century; some say it is China’s century. Friends, why I feel the 21st
century is India’s is that firstly, whenever humanity has entered an age of
knowledge, then India has led the way.
And the 21st century is a century of knowledge. So I am fully convinced that the 21st
century can be India’s.

Secondly, friends, the capabilities to make this century
India’s exists with our youth. We are
fortunate that in this century, we have the youngest workforce in the
world.

Thirdly, what is the identity of India? Not now, but 10-15 years ago, India used to
be known as a land of snakes and snake-charmers, a land of ghosts, spirits, and
black magic. Friends, our youngsters,
20, 22, 24 year old youngsters, have gone around the world and changed India’s
image.

15 years ago, I visited
Taiwan. At that time, I was not the
chief minister. In Taiwan, I had an
interpreter. On the last day of my tour,
he had become quite familiar with me, and asked quite hesitantly, “Sir, if you
don’t mind, I’d like to ask you a question.”
I said, “go ahead.” He said,
“Sir, do you still have snakes and snake charmers in your nation? Do you still
live in a world of ghosts, spirits, and superstitions?” The poor fellow only knew those things. I said “No, these days we are not snake-charmers. We have undergone a major devaluation.” He said, “meaning?” I said, “Our ancestors used to be snake
charmers. Our generation is not that
good. We have lost our abilities. These days we are mouse-charmers.”

And, my friends, today our youth moves the
whole world by keeping their hands on the computer mouse. (applause) This is the power of our youth. This achievement of putting India’s stamp on
the whole world has been done by India’s youth, not by any leader. (applause) They have forced the world to look at India
with new eyes.

Clinton’s
Visit to Jaipur

Friends, you might know that when Clinton had come here as
president, he had a program to go to a village in Jaipur. And in the village,
he saw how ladies ran a computer centre.
There was constant live telecast of the event. And even normally, when foreigners come to
our country, our people go a bit overboard.
There was a lot of fuss, with people given i-cards and so on.

While this was going on, one fellow, a member of the village
council, a Dalit man who was unread, suddenly went up to Clinton to talk to
him. Everyone in the village was shocked
and angry – what is this fellow up to?
He is going to make us ashamed.
He cannot even speak English. Maybe he is looking for a job for his
son? Maybe he is asking for money for
the village?

And this fellow looked
Clinton in the eye and talked to the leader of the free world, and asked him –
and the whole world saw this on TV - “Mr. Clinton, do you still think of my
country as backward? Do you still think
of it as drowned in poverty and superstition?”
When the interpreter translated this to Mr. Clinton, his face changed,
and he replied, “No, I don’t believe this now, and wherever I go in the world
now, I will tell the world what India really is.”

Skill
Development

Friends, our youngsters are smart. Whatever our skin colour is, we are not
inferior to anyone in the world. We need
to have this self-confidence, and to take on the world looking them in the
eye. We need to concentrate on three
things. If we are to compete with China
in the 21st century, if we have to seize the opportunity in this
century, and compete with the rest of the world, then I believe we first have
to concentrate on skill development.
Two, my friends, our scale must be large, and three, our speed must be
fast.

Skill, Scale, and Speed: we must excel in these three
things.

Our youngsters have enthusiasm, energy, and strength, but
their skills are not suitably developed, and so they are not partners in the
journey to development.

We have started a campaign for skill development in
Gujarat. Lakhs of people have been
enrolled in skill development with a huge budget. Nowhere in the country is this being done on
a scale such as this. And look at the
way it is being done. I told my officers,
“Think of what a person needs from birth to death and make a list.” It became clear that at least 1000 things are
needed. So I said start skill
development training for all those areas.
Today we are developing skills in more and more areas, and that is
having an effect.

Speed
of Execution

Let us talk about speed.
We work in such a way in this country that we spend two years just in
moving papers.

Now, it is my firm opinion that Government has no business
in doing business. Minimum government,
maximum governance – there is no alternative to this.

Friends, you are all familiar with the story of the Tata
Nano. You must have studied this as a
case study. People say – even Ratan Tata
says – “we went in there, and within minutes all our work was sorted out, and
within no time we were in production” – all this is well-known. I want to tell you a different story.

Friends, one day a young man came to my office. He was not very presentable, and the
communication was also very weak. Originally he was Indian, but he was born in
Africa and later he had moved to Canada and grew up there. He was originally
Gujarati. For 5-6 minutes he was talking
to me, but our chemistry was not matching.
I will be honest with you - I wasn’t interested. I thought he was wasting my time. I was waiting for him to leave.

So I told him, whatever you want to do, go to
Baroda and talk to my collector, and whatever you want to get done, you can do
it there. And if you still have
problems, come to me. I actually just
wanted to be rid of him. But just to
observe a bit of professionalism, I informed the collector in Baroda and told
him that there is this young person who needs something, please help him. But I just wanted to see the back of him.

After 13 months, this person came again to my office, and my
PA told me that a certain person wants to see me. I had an instinct this was the same man - I
have a certain gift from God in this regard – an instinct about such things - and
told my PA: ask him if he has already come here. And after he told me I told the PA, please send him
away, don’t allow him in, this guy is a waste of time. And my PA said, “No sir, he has come to give
you an invitation.” I said, “An
invitation?" (smiles) "Okay, send him in.” (applause)

He comes in and says, “Sir, I had met you earlier, and now
my factory is ready, and so I want you to inaugurate it.” Friends, I was astounded. This person who had met me and whom I thought
had no substance, he is now inviting me to the inauguration. Friends, I was tremendously impressed. I said, “My friend, of course I will come for
the inauguration.” He said, “Keep in
mind, sir, in 6 months you will have to come again.” I asked, why?
He said, “Now is just the inauguration.
In 6 months we will launch our first product, and you have to come for
that as well.” I said, “Twice in 6
months to the same place? Okay, if you
insist.”

My young friends, you will be amazed at all this. A person who comes to meet me for the first
time is, 13 months later, inaugurating his factory, and 6 months after that is
launching his first product – and what product did I launch there? The metro that you are so proud of in Delhi -
I launched the coach of that metro train.
(loud applause).

Think of the speed – that an individual who is still looking
at the map thinking of where to set up his business has, within 19 months,
finished the first coach and delivered it to Delhi, and now every coach that is
running on the metro in Delhi is built in Gujarat. (applause)

Friends, until we
work at this speed –if we just hem and haw around, saying “we will think about it,” “will do it”, “will
see,” – the world will not wait for us – it will go ahead. And so, our entire thinking has to change in
our administration.

And scale, too – friends, small scale doesn’t work. You must work at a very large scale. If you ever have the opportunity, come visit
Gandhinagar. There I have built a
Mahatma Mandir. It is the largest
convention center in India. And I built
it in 162 days. The largest convention
center in India. Friends, scale must be
as great as you can ever imagine.

Concluding
Thoughts

And so it is important that we lay emphasis on these things
as we travel the journey of development.
For one thing is certain, my friends, that the solution to all problems
is development.

There is no alternative to development. The nation has been destroyed by vote-bank
politics. The nation needs development
politics. If the nation’s politics also
is based on development, then there can be great changes in this nation.

Friends, I repeat, I am among those optimistic people for
whom the glass is always completely full – half with water and half with
air. I can see very clearly that the
dream that Swami Vivekananda saw will definitely come true – through this very
youthful generation – and India will once again rise and lead the world.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be with all of
you, to be able to talk to young people like you. Thank you!

******END of SPEECH*****

My
Concluding Thoughts

If you have read this speech in entirety, I think you will
now understand why I felt it was necessary for me to do the painstaking work of
accurately transcribing and translating it into English. (I apologize for any mistakes and welcome
corrections.)

What impressed me even more was that the entire speech
appears to have been extempore. Not once
in the video (which you can see here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xTkKB3oNb4) did
Mr. Modi ever refer to a piece of paper – facts like the number of cotton bales
at the time he first assumed the chief ministership and that number today
seemed to be at his fingertips.

He also
spoke with tremendous passion. Here was
a man who believed in what he said.

Contrast all this with the man who is projected to be his
rival in the 2014 elections, Mr. Rahul Gandhi.
Mr. Gandhi made a speech recently while accepting his nomination as his
party’s vice-president - widely seen as a signal that he would be the
frontrunner for the Congress in the 2014 elections, and the likely PM, should
the Congress win.

Even when recounting a
rather personal anecdote, of a conversation between his mother and him two days
before the speech, Mr. Gandhi felt it necessary to refer to his printed
speech. Mr. Modi did not even seem to
need anything written during his entire 1 hour speech.

In addition, everything Mr. Modi spoke about had a reference
in a deed he had already achieved, while Mr. Gandhi’s speech was full of an
unjustified promise (which is even harder to justify when one considers that he
has spent the last 9 years as an MP of his party with access to the highest
levers of power).

One of the powerful impressions that Mr. Modi leaves a listener (or a reader) of this speech is his understanding of how the fine details contribute to the big picture. His understanding as to how the prosperity of a banana farmer through the quality of rural roads or of a milk producer through the health of his cattle feeds up the chain and is the key to prosperity of the state and of the nation reveals a mind that keenly understands the interconnectedness of things. Or, when he talked about the vertical integration needed from farm to fiber to fabric to fashion to foreign. Indeed, he did say so explicitly, when he said that we need an integrated approach to everything in India.Some detractors have made fun of his speech, saying that it was full of management-speak,with words like P2-G2, 5 Fs, and 3 Ss, but I for one welcome the idea of an educated prime minister of the country who can actually understand the language of business. It is not enough to talk about India becoming an economic superpower - you have to understand how to transform it, and Mr. Modi clearly understands the need of the hour. It is clear from the speech that he understands both the language of the farmer and that of the businessman.

About the only thing I disagreed with in the content of Mr.
Modi’s speech was his statement that no leaders had anything to do with the
software boom. The software boom has
been helped greatly by the economic liberalization policies launched by the
Congress government headed by Mr. PV Narasimha Rao in 1991, so to say that all
this growth in India happened just by dint of effort by young people is not
accurate. But that is an exaggeration of
the kind that comes rather easily to politicians in political speeches, and one
can pick a dozen inaccuracies daily from the statements of politicians. The other thing to understand from that
remark is to realize that liberalization is not so much “doing something” as “removing
restrictions” and so Modi is correct when he implies that if the government and
leaders did nothing actively and just stood out of the way, the youth of this
country can make India great by dint of their effort. We just need to remove the obstacles.

One could make the hypothesis that Mr. Rahul Gandhi actually
helped Mr. Modi look even better than he already is. But only time will tell whether Mr. Modi will
be able to use his entrepreneurial brilliance to win over all the voters of
India. The state of Gujarat is a very
dynamic one; its populace has a healthy respect for business, making money, and
prosperity, and Mr. Modi sells rather easily to such people.

But there are many people in other parts of the country who
are used to a culture of entitlement.
The capitalistic ethos of Mr. Modi, in which rewards are commensurate with
achievement, would likely scare such people who are worried about
accountability. Thus, while Mr. Modi
might deserve to lead the country based on his achievements in the past 10
years, the sinecure lives of many might be threatened by someone so dynamic.

The BJP is still not sure about whether it wants Mr. Modi as its prime ministerial candidate. But one thing should be clear to them. I, for one, have not seen oratory of this high standard in evidence among any other leader in India; and that, coupled with Mr. Modi's spectacular achievements, should more than wipe out any deficiency in perception that people may have about him. If one were to compare his oratorical style and his ability to connect with the common man with that of other great world leaders, then I cannot think of anyone better than Ronald Reagan as a comparison - a man who was commonly referred to in the USA as "The Great Communicator." Listen to some of Reagan's speeches (available on youtube) and you will see the similarity.

It is going to be an interesting run-up to the 2014
elections.

But,
for the first time in decades, India has a politician with a vision.

Thank you for your feedback! Appreciate your taking the trouble to post a comment. It is very gratifying to read this, for my objective was to make sure that people who are not Hindi speakers should not be deprived of the chance to learn of this visionary leader's ideas.

Thank you for the post! only a person with a true passion can take such efforts to Translate the Speech and also write a commentry on that. I am sure you are a Nationalist who is rightly in love with NaMo as I am myself.

It is a great translation and congratulations for such a great work. There is just little deviation in translation in the para below:- "Friends, many great people have sacrificed, spent their youth in prison, done penance, given up their lives, so that our land may get freedom. And because of their tireless efforts, this dream became reality. But since freedom, it has been more than six decades, but the nation is still waiting for freedom. They wonder when they will get it."In this para you have written word Freedom describing two words used by Modiji ( 1:- swa-raaj(self rule) and 2:- su-raaj( good rule)so the actual traslation should be:-"Friends, many great people have sacrificed, spent their youth in prison, done penance, given up their lives, so that our land may get freedom(swa-raaj or self rule). And because of their tireless efforts, this dream became reality. But since freedom( swa-raaj or self rule), it has been more than six decades, but the nation is still waiting for freedom(su-raaj or good rule). They wonder when they will get it."thanks.

Thank you both for your compliment and for the correction. Yes,now it makes more sense. When I heard it I didn't fully understand it. The words are so similar sounding - swaraaj and su-raaj. Thank you. I have made the correction.

Thanks Kumar for sending the link. I heard the speech. And great effort in making the translation..sorry didn't go through it.BTW, to make the swaraaj and suraaj division clear, may be you should translate them as self-governance, and good-governance. Which segues into the P2G2 well also.

It was great oratory. I especially liked how he kept the audience in mind and spoke about value addition, branding, mouse-charmers,being globally competitive, etc. which is what clicks with that audience. We badly need such positive, optimistic and modern thinking in our leaders. And we need them to talk about it more.

Having lived in Gujarat, I have seen the positive and development-oriented mood that he has created, whose results are there to see. (Have also seen the 2002 riots first hand, but I don't want to go there.)

A few observations on the speech are in order. I hope they will generate some debate.

Some of the achievements of Gujarat he pointed out can probably be claimed by almost any chief minister.. rice eaten in Europe probably comes from UP, mangoes from Maharashtra, coffee from Kerala, etc.

His talk on education I didn't like. Having 42 universities is not necessarily a good thing. Chattisgarh had a couple hundred...most of which were derecognized by UGC and later shut down. Gujarat's universities are not that great actually. And for a forensic science univ in Gujarat, there is a research insitute on dairy in Haryana, on toxicology in UP, on leather research in Karnataka, on fisheries in Goa, etc. So any CM could choose to brag about these.

An important point is that Modi chose to brag about these, while the CM of UP or Karnataka is generally unlikely to do so. I think that is a key difference. This is where the vision comes in.

But if he finds the education in Gujarat something to brag about, and the highlight of the "services" sector, well one wonders about his standards.

The story about the Clinton visit to Jaipur was unnecessary and self-delusional chest-thumping... of the kind we have seen too often to our detriment.

The story of the Metro coaches manufacturing was too long and too insignificant.

Another observation...see how he says "my India", "my farmer", etc. His real problem, apart from the Gujarat riots record, is his individualized style of functioning. It is pretty much "my way or the highway" with him. While I don't really care how he treats his ministers as long as he gets the job done, this is one thing that could prevent him from getting the top job, especially if the job requires managing allies in a coalition, which is very likely to be the case.

Thanks for commenting! All great points. I agree with all your points except for the metro story. I thought that was impressive - what I got from that is that he has institutionalized efficiency in the state. If the story is true, then someone whose file was not even pushed by orders of the CM got good enough service that he could start a factory in 13 months and roll out a product in 6 months after that. Modi made it clear that he didn't do much himself to help the guy, and yet his state was efficient enough that the person was able to do what he wanted. He bragged about the efficiency he had institutionalized another time (when talking about preparing for Vibrant Gujarat in 10 days time.) This, to me, is not accidental - he wants people to know that he changes systems to make them work better.

But I agree both about the bhindi from Gujarat and the forensic science University. Now that you mention this, yes, it is true that these institutes are usually spread out in the country. And your point about Chattisgarh Univs. is correct. There is something about the oratory that you don't think of all this right then, but all good points.

As for the CMs of other states, they probably won't even be able to recall that there are such universities in their state!

I agree also about the Clinton story. There was no connection between that and him or Gujarat. But these are his "great communicator" moments - his projection of himself an optimist - and trying to tell the audience that there is a great future waiting for them if he becomes PM. It is mindless chest-thumping; but considering that Mr. Manmohan Singh doesn't do much of anything, all this is a welcome change. In many ways the reason I think many of us are so delighted with this speech is that perhaps for the first time in decades, someone has cared to engage the common man in a meaningful way in a speech.

Thanks for the great suggestion about swaraaj and suraaj. I have incorporated it!

I have a question for you. I haven't lived in Gujarat; you have. If you were Modi, what are the things you would have bragged about instead of the universities or the bhindi? What really are the progress parameters that have greatly improved under Modi? A lot of people talk about amazing roads. What else? Is the efficiency he talks about in evidence when you try to get work done at government offices?

A lot of people have picked up on the "my farmer," "my India" references as evidence of Modi's authoritarian streak, but one thing I mentioned on facebook and will repeat here is that authoritarianism is not necessarily a disqualifier for a great chief executive. Examples abound. For instance, Abraham Lincoln is often considered as one of the top 3 greatest American president; but his style of functioning was downright autocratic. He was a dictator who would brook no opposition. Teddy Roosevelt was similar, as was Maggie Thatcher, who is even today rated as one of the top 2 or 3 PMs in Britain. She did not earn the nickname "The Iron Lady" for nothing. Lyndon Johnson was another extremely willful personality - although he is synonymous with Vietnam, he is still favorably thought of with respect to social policy. And all these examples are from parliamentary democracies, where these leaders had to contend with opposition, both from the opposition parties and within their own. So I am not sure that being authoritarian is necessarily a deal-breaker.

But I will add also a few more pot-shots that people have taken at the speech, that I have seen. One criticism is that the agriculture boom is not the result of Modi's policies, but the construction of the Sardar Sarovar Dam, for which he wasn't in the least responsible. Another person said that Modi talks about vertical integration as though it doesn't exist in other states. I don't know if it does or not, honestly, but if it does, I doubt that it is the product of a carefully thought-out strategy.

Hi Seshadri Kumarji, First of a very foresighted job on your part to reach out to people who do not understand hindi. My reply is regarding others' criticism that agri boom is because of sardar sarovar dam construction which is not Modi's doing. My point is even that has Modi's imprint because he accelerated it and brought it in present. There was a speech (in gujarati) where he had highlighted that Sardar Sarovar's construction was started in 60s by Pandit Nehru and every successive Gujarat state govt funded and supported it. He claimed that he had outspent every previous state government knowing the benefits it would bring. His spending on Sardar Sarovar scheme is far far higher than what previous guys did. Also he cut the time-wasters who were deliberately delaying the implementation. If not for him, many of the benefits from Sardar Sarovar would have come in the future keeping us still waiting.

Kumar,I don't care about the authoritarian streak. My point is that it may prevent him from getting acceptability from his own party and from allies.

What would I brag about Gujarat? Several things, although not all are due to Modi's policies. But hey, if things go bad, we blame the CM; I am willing to give credit for sustaining past efforts or harnessing the opportunities which arise. A few items that I would talk about:

After Nano, Maruti has decided to set up a plant in Gujarat (after their Manesar labour problems) and also Ford. So it is a budding auto hub.

Reconstruction of Kutch after the earthquake. Can't say the same about Latur.

I think the check dams and rising water table is actually a tremendous achievement.

There were no real corruption scandals in Gujarat in the 10 years I was there. Not just Modi. No one. As opposed to that, since moving to Bangalore, hardly a day goes by without everybody from the minister to the corporator being exposed for some major land grab or other scandal.

Ahmedabad's power supply. In 10 years, excluding the days of national grid failure, the max power outage at any one time was not more than 15 minutes.

I always felt that state govt. was more "accessible" there. I felt I could find a way to contact someone senior in govt. if the company needed something done. I don't get that feel here in Bangalore.

In Ahmedabad I got my passport renewal happened thus: On Friday I spent 20 min in the passport office, on Monday they couriered it to me, I got it on Tuesday. I can't say if the state govt has anything to do with it. But it takes a few weeks in Bangalore just to get the appointment.

Thanks very much for that firsthand account, Dhananjay. Very illuminating. I need to get my passport renewed here in Mumbai - can't say I am looking forward to it!

I understand your point about the authoritarian streak - that it may affect his ability to get buy-in. And that is the reason I put up those examples.

Lincoln was elected in his first term without even a clear majority. He won due to a three-way contest - yet managed to get some of the most important landmark changes in America through - and his authoritarian streak was well-known.

Maggie Thatcher was the longest-serving prime minister in British history. She was known for her uncompromising style as the "Iron Lady." Yet this is what you find about her in the wikipedia page: "During her premiership Thatcher had the second-lowest average approval rating, at 40 percent, of any post-war Prime Minister. Polls consistently showed that she was less popular than her party.A self-described conviction politician, Thatcher always insisted that she did not care about her poll ratings, pointing instead to her unbeaten election record." So, the "Iron Lady," with an approval rating at 40 percent, was still the longest-serving PM of the UK!

My point is that an authoritarian streak does not translate into failure in politics, even with a highly divided group of politicians. Good politicians find a way to succeed in spite of their uncompromising nature.

Mr Kumar personally i am a very great admirer of SHRI MODIJI OR NAMOJI.Sometime way back in 1995 or 1996 i sae him in a well known tv channel.for an hour interviewed by very well known names like prabhu chawla, vinod sharma etc.he was a BJP KARYAKARTA at bjp delhi office.that was when i strongly felt he would go places in BJP & THE REST IS HISTORY.Hats off to you for doing this great job to help people who dont understand HINDI VERY UNFORTUNATELY. You have missed nothing from this entire speech, perhaps except if i am not wrong he mentioned about Amitabh Bachan once.

Here is a MAN ,A GREAT LEADER,Inspite of the 12 yrs of non stop onslaught has built the state. I say he fought for narmada dam, now for expanding its gates. Rajastan benefits now from it. he gave power, roads, water to the state & other infra, drip irrigation, 6 lacs check dams. water table has gone up by 4 mtrs,only state in india. state loses 13000 cr or so annually on prohibition.no freebies,farmers get 9 hrs per day power but have to pay.no drop in voltage or frequency, only state in india.well we can go on & on, girl child education, c.m knows poetry, indian culture, sanskrit, hindu way of life, also english.

no other leader could have withstood,the nonsense of CONGRESS & all govt agencies let loose on him, his ministry, administration, & so too judiciary.Legally many things have been illegally done by congress to fix SHRI MODIJI,but he himself & people of GUJARAT were all with him."the incorruptible" & the only man fit to be indias P.M to take it forward. sorry to say this, its absurd to mention or compare the word RAHUL WITH SHRI MODIJI.

Thanks very much for your appreciation and taking the trouble to comment.

I have mentioned the Amitabh Bachchan part. See Section 4 on the Service Sector where I have written that he mentioned Amitabh.

Yes, Mr. Modi is truly a remarkable man. If you could provide more links about all the things you have mentioned (and which Mr. Modi has also talked about), that would make the case for Mr. Modi even stronger. As a person who has not lived in Gujarat, I would like the opportunity to learn more.

Yes, I agree that comparing Rahul G with Mr. Modi is silly. Mr. Modi has a long record of achievement; Mr. Gandhi, none.

Its more than a year after your post that am commenting on it. It shows you the far reaching clarity, power and vision of Prime Minister Modi-ji. Yes, today he was elected as PM by his party's parliamentary committee. Jai Hind !

We hope good days are ahead of India. So many Indians are happy that this day has come when Mr. Modi will come to power, and now we hope the tremendous vision which seemed clear to us in his speeches will now translate into decisive action!